§536αὐτόχθονον πατρῷον ἔθρισεν δόμον.
has mowed down his native, ancestral house.
§537διπλᾶ δ᾽ ἔτισαν Πριαμίδαι θἀμάρτια.
And the sons of Priam have paid double for their sins.
§538κῆρυξ Ἀχαιῶν χαῖρε τῶν ἀπὸ στρατοῦ.
Herald of the Achaeans, from the army, hail.
§539χαίρω <γε>: τεθνάναι δ᾽ οὐκέτ᾽ ἀντερῶ θεοῖς.
I rejoice; and I will no longer speak against the gods if I die.
§540ἔρως πατρῴας τῆσδε γῆς σ᾽ ἐγύμνασεν.
Did yearning for this ancestral land exercise you?
§541ὥστ᾽ ἐνδακρύειν γ᾽ ὄμμασιν χαρᾶς ὕπο.
So that I even weep from joy in my eyes.
§542τερπνῆς ἄρ᾽ ἦτε τῆσδ᾽ ἐπήβολοι νόσου.
You were, then, possessed of this delightful disease.
§543πῶς δή;
How so?
διδαχθεὶς τοῦδε δεσπόσω λόγου.
Having been taught, I shall master this word.
§544τῶν ἀντερώντων ἱμέρῳ πεπληγμένοι.
Smitten with yearning for those who yearned in return.
§545ποθεῖν ποθοῦντα τήνδε γῆν στρατὸν λέγεις.
You mean that the land yearned for the army that yearned for it.
§546ὡς πόλλ᾽ ἀμαυρᾶς ἐκ φρενός <μ᾽> ἀναστένειν.
So that I often sighed from my dark mind.
§547πόθεν τὸ δύσφρον τοῦτ᾽ ἐπῆν στύγος φρενῶν;
Whence came this hateful gloom upon your mind?
§548πάλαι τὸ σιγᾶν φάρμακον βλάβης ἔχω.
Long since silence has been my medicine against harm.
§549καὶ πῶς;
And how?
ἀπόντων κοιράνων ἔτρεις τινάς;
In the absence of the rulers, did you fear someone?
§550ὡς νῦν τὸ σὸν δή, καὶ θανεῖν πολλὴ χάρις.
As you say now, indeed, even to die is a great favor.
§551εὖ γὰρ πέπρακται.
For it has been well done.
And of these things, in a long time, some things one might say are going easily, and some, in turn, are blameworthy.
τίς δὲ πλὴν θεῶν §554ἅπαντ᾽ ἀπήμων τὸν δι᾽ αἰῶνος χρόνον;
But who, except the gods, is completely without pain through all his life's time?
§555μόχθους γὰρ εἰ λέγοιμι καὶ δυσαυλίας, §556σπαρνὰς παρήξεις καὶ κακοστρώτους, τί δ᾽ οὐ §557στένοντες, †οὐ λαχόντεσ† ἤματος μέρος;
For if I should speak of the labors and hard quarters, narrow landings and bad beds, and what did we not groan at, not having received our day's portion?
And then again, on land there was even greater hatred; for our beds were near the enemy's walls.
§560ἐξ οὐρανοῦ δὲ κἀπὸ γῆς λειμώνιαι §561δρόσοι κατεψάκαζον, †ἔμπεδον σίνος §562ἐσθημάτων τιθέντες ἔνθηρον τρίχα.
And from heaven and from earth the meadow dews trickled down, making a constant damage to our garments, making our hair like a beast's.
§563χειμῶνα δ᾽ εἰ λέγοι τις οἰωνοκτόνον, §564οἷον παρεῖχ᾽ ἄφερτον Ἰδαία χιών, §565ἢ θάλπος, εὖτε πόντος ἐν μεσημβριναῖς §566κοίταις ἀκύμων νηνέμοις εὕδοι πεσών—
And if one should speak of the winter that killed birds, such as the snow of Ida brought, unendurable, or the heat, when the sea in its midday beds lay wave-less and windless, sleeping— why must we grieve for these?
§567τί ταῦτα πενθεῖν δεῖ; παροίχεται πόνος: §568παροίχεται δέ, τοῖσι μὲν τεθνηκόσιν §569τὸ μήποτ᾽ αὖθις μηδ᾽ ἀναστῆναι μέλειν.
The labor is past; it is past, and for the dead indeed it is of no concern ever to rise again.
§570τί τοὺς ἀναλωθέντας ἐν ψήφῳ λέγειν,
Why speak of those who were spent, counting them?
§571τὸν ζῶντα δ᾽ ἀλγεῖν χρὴ τύχης παλιγκότου;
And why should the living grieve over reverse fortune?
§572καὶ πολλὰ χαίρειν ξυμφορὰς καταξιῶ.
And to misfortunes I deem it worthy to say a long farewell.
§573ἡμῖν δὲ τοῖς λοιποῖσιν Ἀργείων στρατοῦ §574νικᾷ τὸ κέρδος, πῆμα δ᾽ οὐκ ἀντιρρέπει: §575ὡς κομπάσαι τῷδ᾽ εἰκὸς ἡλίου φάει §576ὑπὲρ θαλάσσης καὶ χθονὸς ποτωμένοις: §577“Τροίαν ἑλόντες δήποτ᾽ Ἀργείων στόλος §578θεοῖς λάφυρα ταῦτα τοῖς καθ᾽ Ἑλλάδα §579δόμων ἐπασσάλευσαν ἀρχαῖων γάνος. ” §580τοιαῦτα χρὴ κλύοντας εὐλογεῖν πόλιν §581καὶ τοὺς στρατηγούς: καὶ χάρις τιμήσεται §582Διὸς τόδ᾽ ἐκπράξασα.
For us, the remaining of the Argive army, the gain wins, and the pain does not outweigh it; so that it is fitting to boast to this light of the sun, flying over sea and land: “Having captured Troy once, the Argive host have nailed these spoils to the gods throughout Greece, a glory for their ancient temples.” Hearing such things, it is fitting to praise the city and the generals; and the grace of Zeus which accomplished this shall be honored.
πάντ᾽ ἔχεις λόγον.
You have the whole story.
Being conquered by your words, I do not refuse; for to learn well is always young for the old.
But these things concern the house and Clytemnestra most fittingly, and at the same time they enrich me.
§587ἀνωλόλυξα μὲν πάλαι χαρᾶς ὕπο, §588ὅτ᾽ ἦλθ᾽ ὁ πρῶτος νύχιος ἄγγελος πυρός, §589φράζων ἅλωσιν Ἰλίου τ᾽ ἀνάστασιν.
I raised a shout of joy long ago, when the first nightly messenger of fire came, telling of the capture and destruction of Ilium.
And someone, rebuking me, said, “Persuaded by beacon-watchers, do you think Troy is now sacked?
Surely it is very like a woman to lift up her heart.” By such words I was made to appear deluded.
§594ὅμως δ᾽ ἔθυον, καὶ γυναικείῳ νόμῳ §595ὀλολυγμὸν ἄλλος ἄλλοθεν κατὰ πτόλιν §596ἔλασκον εὐφημοῦντες ἐν θεῶν ἕδραις §597θυηφάγον κοιμῶντες εὐώδη φλόγα.
Yet I continued to sacrifice, and in woman's fashion, they raised a shout of joy here and there through the city, crying out with good omen in the seats of the gods, lulling the fragrant, sacrifice-consuming flame.
§598καὶ νῦν τὰ μάσσω μὲν τί δεῖ σέ μοι λέγειν;
And now, what need is there for you to tell me the longer story?
§599ἄνακτος αὐτοῦ πάντα πεύσομαι λόγον.
From the king himself I shall learn the whole account.
§600ὅπως δ᾽ ἄριστα τὸν ἐμὸν αἰδοῖον πόσιν §601σπεύσω πάλιν μολόντα δέξασθαι—τί γὰρ §602γυναικὶ τούτου φέγγος ἥδιον δρακεῖν, §603ἀπὸ στρατείας ἀνδρὶ σώσαντος θεοῦ §604πύλας ἀνοῖξαι; —ταῦτ᾽ ἀπάγγειλον πόσει: §605ἥκειν ὅπως τάχιστ᾽ ἐράσμιον πόλει: §606γυναῖκα πιστὴν δ᾽ ἐν δόμοις εὕροι μολὼν §607οἵανπερ οὖν ἔλειπε, δωμάτων κύνα §608ἐσθλὴν ἐκείνῳ, πολεμίαν τοῖς δύσφροσιν, §609καὶ τἄλλ᾽ ὁμοίαν πάντα, σημαντήριον §610οὐδὲν διαφθείρασαν ἐν μήκει χρόνου.
But so that I may hasten to receive my revered husband returning in the best way—for what sweeter light is there for a woman to see than this, when a god has saved her husband from campaign, to open the gates?—report this to my husband: to come as quickly as possible, beloved of the city; and on returning may he find a faithful wife in his home, just as he left her, a watchdog of the house, loyal to him, hostile to those who wish him ill, and in all other things the same, having destroyed no seal in the length of time.
I know no pleasure nor blaming rumor from another man, any more than the dyeing of bronze.
Such a boast, full of truth, is not shameful for a noble woman to utter.
She indeed has spoken thus for you who learn, a speech decorous to clear interpreters.